The Widow's Mite, The Mighty Widow
Sermon
MONEY AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Can The Rich Be Righteous; Can The Righteous Be Rich?
Widows occupy a very special place in the biblical religions of Judaism and Christianity. In ancient Judaism the widow was to be cared for and protected by her husband's family as well as her own. Since it was difficult for her to earn a livelihood in the ancient society, farmers were to leave crops for widows at the edges of their fields and vineyards. There was a real sense in which they lived off the fringes of the economy.
As far as the Old Testament prophets were concerned, neglect or abuse of widows and orphans were sure signs of injustice and decadence. If the poor, especially the poor, defenseless widows, were being exploited, the judgment and wrath of God were certain to come to such a corrupt society.
A similar concern for widows carries over into the New Testament. Tradition suggests that Jesus' mother, Mary, was widowed and that at his crucifixion he asked John to care for her. Even now at Ephesus, in Turkey, we can see what is purported to be Mary's tomb, inasmuch as one tradition says that John cared for her in Ephesus in her later years.
Perhaps it is in that tradition that James writes that pure religion is to visit widows and orphans in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Even more, the Pastoral Epistles suggest that the early church had an official office or position for widows over sixty. It seems many of them were on the church payroll, ministering to the many needs of the church and thus providing for themselves a means of support.
But perhaps the widow of today's lesson is the most well--known of all biblical widows, even though not much is really known about her. We know her not from an extended biography, but from an extraordinary act that caught Jesus' eye and subsequently the eye of the world. By the gift of the widow's mite, this widow has become a mighty widow, giving to the church a powerful example and noble challenge.
I.
Note first the irony. The poor widow gives more to the temple treasury than do the well--to--do aristocrats.
In the Jerusalem Temple there was a room where thirteen offering receptacles were placed. Each receptacle had a trumpet shaped opening into which people cast their offering. The different receptacles were used to support different aspects of temple life. Some were for incense, others for wood, for temple upkeep, sacrifices, and so on.
It is interesting to note that Jesus was seated in this room, observing what people were contributing. Notice once again, contrary to popular notions, Jesus was interested in what people did with their money. This man of the centuries, who knew what was in the heart of all men, said repeatedly that where a man's treasure is, there will be his heart also. Since money represents energy, power, and freedom, he knew the use of money indicated what people really wanted to do with their energy, power, and freedom. Let us not be deceived, authentic religion and authentic use of money go hand in hand.
If the generous gifts of the aristocracy made the headlines and drew "oo's" and "ah's" from the bystanders, the biggest "oo" and "ah" came from Jesus when this poor widow, worn with toil, put in her two coins, which amounted to less than a penny. This widow, said Jesus, gave the largest gift because she gave all she had, even the money for her next meal. The well--to--do gave large amounts, but they gave out of the leftovers of their abundance.
I am sure our well--to--do people are as astonished at this observation as were Jesus' disciples. We can hear ourselves saying, "Well, let's just see how far you can get on the pennies of poor widows. You cannot pay our insurance bill with widows' mites or our gas and electric bills. Try paying for a highly competent staff for an effective, professional ministry with pennies from widows. Both temple and church need dollars, big dollars, from the well--to--do. The mites from widows will never do it."
Wrong, says Jesus. I did not say the mites from widows would do it, but the dedication and commitment of this widow would. That, says Jesus, is what I am looking for from the well--to--do - people who are committed to my cause in the world, people who believe in what the church stands for and want it to continue, people who are willing to commit even a portion of the 100 percent given by the poor widow. This widow is mighty, not because of the size of her gift, but because of the size of her commitment.
The truth is, the church is still blessed with mighty widows - widows who not only give wholeheartedly out of their poverty, but widows who give generously out of their abundance. The truth is, many widows would put many members to shame. Even widows of modest means often are generous with the church.
Why is that so? Widows often have a way of seeing through the tinsel and trinkets of materialism. Having stared death in the face, and having grappled firsthand with loneliness and forsaken--ness, they see the emptiness of the good life based on money alone. As the widow of Ben Nichols said in an Elizabeth Taylor movie, "I have a house in the city, a house in the country, two Mercedes and a yacht, and I have nothing."
Widows have a way of cutting through the materialistic hype of our time to do the real thing. The real thing is true religion and the true relationships which true religion promotes. For God, who looks on the heart, her gift was big business.
What we need today are widows - wealthy and poor alike - who will give generously to the work of the church. What we need today are men and women, married and single, who believe in what the church stands for, who want to see the church grow from strength to strength, who want it to be there for baptisms and confirmations, weddings and funerals, who want it to inspire and educate, counsel and console, challenge and stimulate; who want it to prophesy, dream dreams, see visions, and uphold ethics and morals. With the commitment of this mighty widow of the widow's mite, we would be a mighty church with no financial problems whatsoever.
II.
In contrast, note the irony of the wealthy aristocrat, the rich young ruler. The one who could give a lot gave nothing.
When you think of it, Jesus was either very foolish or very courageous. What would you do if you were attempting to start a revolutionary movement to change the world? Would you not recruit from among those who had money and power? Widows with their pennies are nice, but why would Jesus turn away the rich young aristocrat of our story? Why not recruit him and bring him along and persuade him to contribute his money to the cause?
As usual, Jesus saw more deeply - deeply into the heart of a young man who never could be committed, wholeheartedly, to the Kingdom, because he really trusted in money more than God. He saw money, in spite of his professed goodness, as the real bottom line of life.
We are not told how he got his money. Some accounts say he was young, which may suggest inherited wealth. Perhaps he had been well trained by parents to guard well the family inheritance and to let no one dupe him. After all is said and done, it is only money that really matters, they told him. What the world wants now is not love, but money, hard, real money. Money is the name of the American game, says sociologist C. Wright Mills, and let there be no sour grapes about it from the losers.
On the other hand, the young man may have been among the newly rich. And it is a common failing of the newly rich to trust in money too much, to believe it can buy more than it really can. If the old rich are cynically stuffy with money, the newly rich are optimistically exuberant. The fascination with gadgets, tinsel, and glitter along with the preoccupations of houses and lands and clubs and cars are captivating.
Whether the money was new or old, Jesus knew how much this young man trusted in it more than God. If the poor widow was wrinkled and stooped, weary with the lines of suffering in her face, Rembrandt paints the face of the rich young ruler as smooth and innocent. He had not yet learned what the widow learned, that a man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of his possessions. It consists rather in his investment toward life eternal - the qualitative as well as the quantitative life.
How is it with you? With whom do you identify? The widow or the rich young ruler? Do we possess our possessions or do they possess us? Are we paying large initiation fees, and annual fees to our country clubs while our church goes begging? Are the hundreds of dollars we spend for the football weekend more than we give to the church? Add it up. Do you spend more on liquor and wine than you give to the church?
What about those that make over $100,000 a year and give only $1,000 or less to the church? What will the Lord of the universe say to you, this Lord, who holds up the tithe or ten percent as the ideal gift to the church? How about those that make $50,000 a year and give only $500, or one percent to the church. Are they not more like the rich young ruler than the widow?
Poor as she was, the widow was smart enough to support organized religion, for just as there is no symphony and no music without organization, and no hospital and medical practice without organization, so there is no church or religion without organization. What religion do people support if they don't support organized religion? Where will people be married and buried? Where will children go to Sunday school and young people to youth meetings, and adults to worship if not in an organized setting? Private religion tends to be obscure, small--minded, and tight--fisted. Organized religion calls us to bigness, to an open hand and generous heart. It is there to serve when private religion cannot be found.
It is not a sin to be wealthy, but it is a sin to be selfish. It is not a virtue to be poor; it is a virtue to be generous. It is not a sin to make money. It is a sin not to share it for Christ's work in the world. It is not a virtue to be a failure; it is a virtue to see that material success may lead to a spiritual failure. It is not a sin to have money, old or new. It is a sin to keep for ourselves what rightfully belongs to God.
As always the question really is not, "How much should my neighbor give?" Rather, the question to all widows and well--to--do people is, "How much should I give?" The question is, "What does the Lord require of me?"
An epitaph on a poor widow's gravestone read, "She hath done what she couldn't." The epitaph for the rich young man read, "He hath not done what he should and could."
How will your gravestone read?
Prayer
Eternal God, who has brought us to life amid miracle and mystery, and who sustains life with the bountiful splendor of seed time and harvest, we praise you for the providential abundance of the earth. By your faithful Word of creation, the cycles and rhythms of the world support and sustain us with fascinating complexity and infinite variety. We give you thanks, O Lord.
We have been blessed not only with the abundance of nature, but with the productivity of human nature. We are recipients of the work of inventive minds and creative hands. Our lives are enriched by the gifts we bring to one another. Thanks be to you for making us to share in your creativity and abundance, O Lord.
We are especially grateful for those who have been generous with the church in years gone by and this year. For your Spirit which moves among our people to open their hearts and checkbooks to your cause, we give thanks.
We pray earnestly for our church in this Stewardship Season. Let your Spirit of grace and generosity flow among all our members. For those who have been generous, let them be more generous still. For those who have given only in token ways, we pray a renewed enthusiasm for the church's work in the world and a new resolve to give more liberally. For those who give not at all, we ask genuine repentance and a new determination to open up in love and thankfulness to support your church in this place.
Grant, O Lord, that all of us will be open to you and to Christ's love so that we will give as you require of us. Let no selfishness or hardness of heart take control of us. Grant that we might have strength to rearrange our priorities to put your Kingdom first in our heart and checkbook. Bless our Stewardship Campaign, and all our Church that we might pull together for the sake of your cause. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
As far as the Old Testament prophets were concerned, neglect or abuse of widows and orphans were sure signs of injustice and decadence. If the poor, especially the poor, defenseless widows, were being exploited, the judgment and wrath of God were certain to come to such a corrupt society.
A similar concern for widows carries over into the New Testament. Tradition suggests that Jesus' mother, Mary, was widowed and that at his crucifixion he asked John to care for her. Even now at Ephesus, in Turkey, we can see what is purported to be Mary's tomb, inasmuch as one tradition says that John cared for her in Ephesus in her later years.
Perhaps it is in that tradition that James writes that pure religion is to visit widows and orphans in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Even more, the Pastoral Epistles suggest that the early church had an official office or position for widows over sixty. It seems many of them were on the church payroll, ministering to the many needs of the church and thus providing for themselves a means of support.
But perhaps the widow of today's lesson is the most well--known of all biblical widows, even though not much is really known about her. We know her not from an extended biography, but from an extraordinary act that caught Jesus' eye and subsequently the eye of the world. By the gift of the widow's mite, this widow has become a mighty widow, giving to the church a powerful example and noble challenge.
I.
Note first the irony. The poor widow gives more to the temple treasury than do the well--to--do aristocrats.
In the Jerusalem Temple there was a room where thirteen offering receptacles were placed. Each receptacle had a trumpet shaped opening into which people cast their offering. The different receptacles were used to support different aspects of temple life. Some were for incense, others for wood, for temple upkeep, sacrifices, and so on.
It is interesting to note that Jesus was seated in this room, observing what people were contributing. Notice once again, contrary to popular notions, Jesus was interested in what people did with their money. This man of the centuries, who knew what was in the heart of all men, said repeatedly that where a man's treasure is, there will be his heart also. Since money represents energy, power, and freedom, he knew the use of money indicated what people really wanted to do with their energy, power, and freedom. Let us not be deceived, authentic religion and authentic use of money go hand in hand.
If the generous gifts of the aristocracy made the headlines and drew "oo's" and "ah's" from the bystanders, the biggest "oo" and "ah" came from Jesus when this poor widow, worn with toil, put in her two coins, which amounted to less than a penny. This widow, said Jesus, gave the largest gift because she gave all she had, even the money for her next meal. The well--to--do gave large amounts, but they gave out of the leftovers of their abundance.
I am sure our well--to--do people are as astonished at this observation as were Jesus' disciples. We can hear ourselves saying, "Well, let's just see how far you can get on the pennies of poor widows. You cannot pay our insurance bill with widows' mites or our gas and electric bills. Try paying for a highly competent staff for an effective, professional ministry with pennies from widows. Both temple and church need dollars, big dollars, from the well--to--do. The mites from widows will never do it."
Wrong, says Jesus. I did not say the mites from widows would do it, but the dedication and commitment of this widow would. That, says Jesus, is what I am looking for from the well--to--do - people who are committed to my cause in the world, people who believe in what the church stands for and want it to continue, people who are willing to commit even a portion of the 100 percent given by the poor widow. This widow is mighty, not because of the size of her gift, but because of the size of her commitment.
The truth is, the church is still blessed with mighty widows - widows who not only give wholeheartedly out of their poverty, but widows who give generously out of their abundance. The truth is, many widows would put many members to shame. Even widows of modest means often are generous with the church.
Why is that so? Widows often have a way of seeing through the tinsel and trinkets of materialism. Having stared death in the face, and having grappled firsthand with loneliness and forsaken--ness, they see the emptiness of the good life based on money alone. As the widow of Ben Nichols said in an Elizabeth Taylor movie, "I have a house in the city, a house in the country, two Mercedes and a yacht, and I have nothing."
Widows have a way of cutting through the materialistic hype of our time to do the real thing. The real thing is true religion and the true relationships which true religion promotes. For God, who looks on the heart, her gift was big business.
What we need today are widows - wealthy and poor alike - who will give generously to the work of the church. What we need today are men and women, married and single, who believe in what the church stands for, who want to see the church grow from strength to strength, who want it to be there for baptisms and confirmations, weddings and funerals, who want it to inspire and educate, counsel and console, challenge and stimulate; who want it to prophesy, dream dreams, see visions, and uphold ethics and morals. With the commitment of this mighty widow of the widow's mite, we would be a mighty church with no financial problems whatsoever.
II.
In contrast, note the irony of the wealthy aristocrat, the rich young ruler. The one who could give a lot gave nothing.
When you think of it, Jesus was either very foolish or very courageous. What would you do if you were attempting to start a revolutionary movement to change the world? Would you not recruit from among those who had money and power? Widows with their pennies are nice, but why would Jesus turn away the rich young aristocrat of our story? Why not recruit him and bring him along and persuade him to contribute his money to the cause?
As usual, Jesus saw more deeply - deeply into the heart of a young man who never could be committed, wholeheartedly, to the Kingdom, because he really trusted in money more than God. He saw money, in spite of his professed goodness, as the real bottom line of life.
We are not told how he got his money. Some accounts say he was young, which may suggest inherited wealth. Perhaps he had been well trained by parents to guard well the family inheritance and to let no one dupe him. After all is said and done, it is only money that really matters, they told him. What the world wants now is not love, but money, hard, real money. Money is the name of the American game, says sociologist C. Wright Mills, and let there be no sour grapes about it from the losers.
On the other hand, the young man may have been among the newly rich. And it is a common failing of the newly rich to trust in money too much, to believe it can buy more than it really can. If the old rich are cynically stuffy with money, the newly rich are optimistically exuberant. The fascination with gadgets, tinsel, and glitter along with the preoccupations of houses and lands and clubs and cars are captivating.
Whether the money was new or old, Jesus knew how much this young man trusted in it more than God. If the poor widow was wrinkled and stooped, weary with the lines of suffering in her face, Rembrandt paints the face of the rich young ruler as smooth and innocent. He had not yet learned what the widow learned, that a man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of his possessions. It consists rather in his investment toward life eternal - the qualitative as well as the quantitative life.
How is it with you? With whom do you identify? The widow or the rich young ruler? Do we possess our possessions or do they possess us? Are we paying large initiation fees, and annual fees to our country clubs while our church goes begging? Are the hundreds of dollars we spend for the football weekend more than we give to the church? Add it up. Do you spend more on liquor and wine than you give to the church?
What about those that make over $100,000 a year and give only $1,000 or less to the church? What will the Lord of the universe say to you, this Lord, who holds up the tithe or ten percent as the ideal gift to the church? How about those that make $50,000 a year and give only $500, or one percent to the church. Are they not more like the rich young ruler than the widow?
Poor as she was, the widow was smart enough to support organized religion, for just as there is no symphony and no music without organization, and no hospital and medical practice without organization, so there is no church or religion without organization. What religion do people support if they don't support organized religion? Where will people be married and buried? Where will children go to Sunday school and young people to youth meetings, and adults to worship if not in an organized setting? Private religion tends to be obscure, small--minded, and tight--fisted. Organized religion calls us to bigness, to an open hand and generous heart. It is there to serve when private religion cannot be found.
It is not a sin to be wealthy, but it is a sin to be selfish. It is not a virtue to be poor; it is a virtue to be generous. It is not a sin to make money. It is a sin not to share it for Christ's work in the world. It is not a virtue to be a failure; it is a virtue to see that material success may lead to a spiritual failure. It is not a sin to have money, old or new. It is a sin to keep for ourselves what rightfully belongs to God.
As always the question really is not, "How much should my neighbor give?" Rather, the question to all widows and well--to--do people is, "How much should I give?" The question is, "What does the Lord require of me?"
An epitaph on a poor widow's gravestone read, "She hath done what she couldn't." The epitaph for the rich young man read, "He hath not done what he should and could."
How will your gravestone read?
Prayer
Eternal God, who has brought us to life amid miracle and mystery, and who sustains life with the bountiful splendor of seed time and harvest, we praise you for the providential abundance of the earth. By your faithful Word of creation, the cycles and rhythms of the world support and sustain us with fascinating complexity and infinite variety. We give you thanks, O Lord.
We have been blessed not only with the abundance of nature, but with the productivity of human nature. We are recipients of the work of inventive minds and creative hands. Our lives are enriched by the gifts we bring to one another. Thanks be to you for making us to share in your creativity and abundance, O Lord.
We are especially grateful for those who have been generous with the church in years gone by and this year. For your Spirit which moves among our people to open their hearts and checkbooks to your cause, we give thanks.
We pray earnestly for our church in this Stewardship Season. Let your Spirit of grace and generosity flow among all our members. For those who have been generous, let them be more generous still. For those who have given only in token ways, we pray a renewed enthusiasm for the church's work in the world and a new resolve to give more liberally. For those who give not at all, we ask genuine repentance and a new determination to open up in love and thankfulness to support your church in this place.
Grant, O Lord, that all of us will be open to you and to Christ's love so that we will give as you require of us. Let no selfishness or hardness of heart take control of us. Grant that we might have strength to rearrange our priorities to put your Kingdom first in our heart and checkbook. Bless our Stewardship Campaign, and all our Church that we might pull together for the sake of your cause. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
